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Sihon, King of Heshbon, opposed with physical force the fulfillment of Israel's destiny; and, having provoked war, provokes it to his own destruction.

I. THE NECESSITY FOR WAR. The question whether war is ever just and legitimate must be answered in the affirmative. Still, this does not justify all war. The majority of wars are indefensible. War is a barbarous instrument, and, as intelligence advances, can be replaced by better methods of conquest. But it sometimes becomes the last and desperate alternative. If war has been tolerated in heaven, it may be tolerated on earth. Even a war of extermination may be, under some conceivable circumstances, a necessity. In this case we may look:

1. At the human side of the war.

(1) There was an arrogant rejection of equitable demands. No man, and no State, holds an absolute and irresponsible right to the surface of the globe. "The earth is the Lord's." We may acquire, by inheritance, or purchase, or culture, personal interests in the land, which others are bound to respect. Yet personal interests are to be subservient to a nation's good. The lesser must yield to the greater. Israel justly demanded a right of way to his own possessions. The terms proposed by the Hebrews were fair and equitable, and the onus of war fell on him who rejected them.

(2) Israel could point to his pacific and honorable conduct in passing through the territories of Ammon and Esau. A reputation for trustworthiness in observing a treaty had been already established.

(3) The rejection of Israel's proposal involved a deprivation of Israel's natural rights. The patriarch Jacob had acquired by purchase and by culture much land in Canaan; and now, released from prolonged captivity, the people claim their ancestral estates. If we leave out of view the commands of Jehovah, there was ample reason, founded in common justice, why the Hebrews should demand a passage into Canaan.

2. Let us contemplate the matter on the Divine side. This invasion was a plain intimation of Jehovah's will.

(1) It is not man's place to sit in judgment on his God. We are largely ignorant of all the factors in this case. There are vaster considerations than we can reach - problems which we cannot solve. Our moral judgments are often warped by weak and morbid sentiments. Righteousness, in its very nature, is superior to pleasure. "Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?"

(2) We are assured that the guilt of the Amorites was great. What forms this guilt assumed we are not fully told, but certain it is that most flagrant corruptions flourished among them. He who uses elemental forces and angelic agents to execute his judicial verdicts, is equally at liberty to employ men as the officers of his vengeance.

(3) Very probably this was a signal act of retributive justice. Possibly they had acquired the. territory by violence and bloodshed, and had now to yield it again to the arbiter of war. "They that take the sword shall perish with the sword."

(4) Certainly this calamity was in the line of the world's progress. Mankind has been benefited by the overthrow of corrupt empires. This was the rough pathway along which Israel fulfilled its beneficent destiny.

II. THE PRECISE OCCASION FOR THIS WAR. This is attributed to the stolid perverseness of one man - Sihon, King of Heshbon. Is it to be tolerated that the march of a nation's destiny is to be baffled by the ignorance, or lust, or stupidity of one man?

1. This obstinacy of the royal will must be attributed to natural causes. God never compels a man to be bad. Human nature was the same in Sihon's day as in ours. Insolent arrogance is a growth. Sihon had for many years repressed nobler instincts, stifled generous feeling, pampered selfishness and pride; hence blind obstinacy became in him despotic. Corrupt principles spring from tiny seeds.

2. There are stages in a man's career when his choice becomes his fate. By the operation of God's unseen laws and mysterious forces, habits become as fixed as granite. The hardening process becomes irreversible, and truly it is said that God does it. We can choose whether or not to prepare our artillery, manufacture our explosives, or light the fuse, but at that point human control ends; the cannon-ball wings its way by laws imposed by God, and it is now entirely at his disposal. So in the moral sphere, there is a point at which human choice ends, and in his judicial capacity God steps in and fixes irreversibly the matter. "He that is filthy, let him be filthy still." We slowly and imperceptibly harden our sentient natures; then God fixes them with his judicial act, and we are held in the iron manacles of doom.

III. THE SECRET OF SUCCESS IN WAR.

1. God's promise of success does not exclude human exertion. His promise always presupposes man's wise activity. His pledge of help is intended to stimulate, not supplant, brave endeavor. We can only move successfully in the line of God's promise.

2. God's initial processes should be closely followed by our activity. "I have begun," said God (ver. 31), therefore "begin to possess." We should follow hard upon God's path, then his right hand will uphold us. If tardiness enchain our feet, we may soon lose the trace of his footprints.

3. One brave deed is the forerunner of many successes. The report of Israel's martial prowess flew as on the wings of the wind, and the widespread fear it induced made further conquests easy. The fruits of good or evil deeds may reproduce themselves through all time. The first step in a new course is pregnant with importance.

4. Strict obedience is the highway to large success. When the command of God is plain, there is no place for hesitation. Bravery grows and flourishes in an atmosphere of loyalty. During the last thirty-eight years of wilderness life, the faith and love of the young Hebrews had immeasurably grown, and their prompt obedience was the early firstfruit. They were wedded in faithful love to God. Speaking of this period at a later date, God says by his prophet, "I remember thee... the love of thine espousals, when thou wentest after me in the wilderness." In keeping all the "commandments" of God, they found a large reward. - D.

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KJV: Rise ye up, take your journey, and pass over the river Arnon: behold, I have given into thine hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land: begin to possess it, and contend with him in battle.

WEB: "Rise up, take your journey, and pass over the valley of the Arnon: behold, I have given into your hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land; begin to possess it, and contend with him in battle.